Tuesday, 11 November 2014

Football; Beauty and the Beast 足球—美女與野獸

Football; Beauty and the Beast

I can’t remember a time when football wasn’t an important part of my
life. One of my first memories is England winning the World Cup. I was four
years old and I always mention this because it hasn’t happened since and may
not happen again in my lifetime! I also vividly recall the excitement of my
first live match on Boxing Day 1969, Burnley v Liverpool (a fixture which,
coincidentally, will be happening again this year exactly 45 years later). Throughout
my childhood, playing football in the school playground, the street and the
park with my friends was an everyday occurrence that I took for granted. In one
way or another either personally or professionally football has been a constant
part of my life ever since and it’s fair to say that over the years it has
developed into a bit of a love-hate relationship. That might sound odd, so let
me explain.

The things I love about football:

It’s easy to play: One of the beauties of the sport is its simplicity. You can amuse yourself for hours with just a ball, kicking it against a wall, playing ‘keepy up’ etc. You don’t need much equipment and the rules are simple too so it’s easy to learn both the basic skills and how to play. With a ball and a bit of space, people can have a game, it’s that simple.

The simplicity belies its complexity and skill: Almost everyone can play football, however not every person, and certainly not every team, can play it well. I love the fact that to get really good you need to blend natural ability and hard work. Watching a top class player or team is like watching poetry in motion. It’s called the beautiful game because the sublime skills of the rare footballing geniuses are breathtaking. The fact that the fusion of talent, tactics and skills so rarely come together make it an even more joyous thing to behold when it does. Top players and teams make it look easy, but those of us who have played even at a moderate level know that it is anything but easy.

It’s universal: I am an avid follower of other sports too. Cricket and rugby are among my favourites but they are not what I would call truly global. Football is arguably unique as a team sport in that it is played virtually everywhere. Of course its universal popularity is in part due to its simplicity. We shouldn’t underestimate this global appeal because as a potential power for good, football is well-placed to use its influence to promote harmony and goodwill.

It’s good for you and society: Playing football promotes positive health both physical and mental. If done correctly, training for and playing football makes you strong, fit, agile and flexible. It is good for your skeletal and cardio-vascular systems and reduces stress. Physical activity also enhances cognitive performance – it’s good for your brain too. A happy, healthy and engaged population is good for society.

Being part of a team: I retired from playing football as a veteran when I was in my mid 40s. My body told me to quit much earlier than that but I just loved the camaraderie and being part of a team. You can’t beat the adrenaline rush just before kick-off and for me, it’s not quite the same in individual sports. Whether you are a player or a fan, following a team can bring people together. Friendships made through sports teams tend to endure.

Football can be a metaphor for life: If you learn and play properly, football teaches you lots about life; how win with humility, how to lose with good grace. It teaches the benefits of teamwork and the direct causal relationship between effort and positive outcomes. Equally, you learn about overcoming adversity and how to treat other people with respect.

So I love football for many reasons but chiefly because of its
inherent qualities of fun and excitement. At its best it embodies the essence
of sport – healthy and pure competition between two teams where honest
endeavour brings success.

Football should always be a great experience on and off the pitch;
unfortunately it just isn’t!

The things I hate about football:

Commercialisation: Football is often used by people with no empathy or love for it, as a ‘tool’ with which to make money. I guess this is no different to other industries, but I draw the line when it becomes ‘exploitation’ of players or fans or anybody else for that matter.

Greed: This can apply to TV companies, corporate bodies, agents, players, even Associations etc. There is a lot of money in football but only in a very few places. Some people can’t resist the temptation to line their own pockets rather than making sure scarce resources are distributed more equitably.

Corruption: This takes a number of forms ranging from officials in power abusing their positions to match-fixers deliberately affecting the outcome of a match for personal gain. These people destroy the soul of football.

Cheating: I can’t abide cheats. Cheating takes many forms whether it is deliberately fielding an ineligible player, taking performance enhancing drugs, fixing a match or diving in the penalty area. One method of cheating that has got me incensed recently is players feigning injury, particularly to waste time as the final whistle gets near. I left a match before the end recently because I was so disgusted with the players antics. Do they have no shame? Everyone knows they are blatantly cheating but for me what makes it worse is that they don’t seem to care that they are also making themselves look pathetically weak falling over for no apparent reason; they must have no pride either. When this sort of behaviour is encouraged or condoned by coaches, as it frequently is, it makes it even worse and makes my blood boil. People tell me to ‘get over it’ or ‘it’s part of the game’. Actually it’s NOT! Faking injury is unsporting behaviour and is a cautionable offence.

Hooliganism: Football has been blighted by physical attacks on people and property for many years. I have literally feared for my life on a few occasions, most notably when watching England in a World Cup qualifier in Rome in 1997 (watch the youtube videos and you will see why). I am one of the lucky ones; I’m still here to tell the tale. It’s a sad fact that here are still horrible people who use football as an excuse for a fight.

Discrimination: In the same way that football can connect people, it can also divide them. Football is often very ‘tribal’ in nature and this can result in prejudices of all kinds being voiced. It is important to distinguish between rivalry and open hostility. Unfortunately I have witnessed vile and unforgivable personable abuse at football matches based on many factors including; team allegiance, colour of skin, race, age, sex, orientation etc. For some reason you just don’t get this level of unnecessary abuse and naked aggression at other sports.

It brings the worst out in some people: More often than not, football is a positive influence but occasionally it is also used as an excuse for a range of negative human traits such as hatred, arrogance, discourtesy and violence. There are perpetrated both on and off the pitch. For example look at Louis Suarez and his seemingly uncontrollable desire to bite opponents. The one that bothers me most off the pitch is the lack of respect shown by so-called ‘fans’ towards each other, players and officials. Believe it or not I have seen a mass brawl involving parents at a children’s match.

There is no doubt that football is and will remain a world-wide
phenomenon and as such it will continue to embody every facet of human nature,
good and bad. So I suppose I am destined to continue my love-hate relationship
with football (because after all this time I can’t turn my back on it), at
times reaching the heights of elation, wonder and joy and at other times plunged
into despair, disgust and depression. I just hope my heart can take the highs
and lows; a polarized range of intense emotions!

I consider myself fortunate to work in an industry with the
potential to transcend barriers of all kinds and to unite people in a common
passion. If everyone involved in football at every level made more effort to eradicate
the negative influences, the ‘beautiful game’ would flourish. As a consequence,
I sincerely believe that the world would be a much better place.

Mark has
been the CEO of the Hong Kong Football Association since 2012 and has been
responsible for the transformation of football in Hong Kong under a Government
sponsored programme called Project Phoenix. Project
Phoenix involved radical changes to the sport both in terms of the governance,
funding and management of the HKFA (off the pitch issues) and also football
development activities (on the pitch issues). As a result of the successful
implementation of Project Phoenix and its successor strategic plan ‘Aiming
High”, there are now more people playing football in Hong Kong, more regularly
and at a higher level. The HKFA was awarded the coveted AFC Developing Member
Association Award in 2015 in recognition of the enhancements made in terms of
high performance football, youth development, coach education, women’s
football, refereeing and futsal.

Prior to
working full time in Hong Kong Mark was based in the UK and operated as an
international sports consultant. In this role he completed many assignments
across the globe for example in Singapore, the Ukraine etc. In 2009 he wrote a
football development strategy entitled ‘Dare to Dream’ on behalf of the Hong
Kong SAR Government and completed a feasibility study for a Football Training
Centre in Hong Kong (now under construction). Mark has worked in the sports
industry for over 30 years as hands on operator, consultant and full time CEO.
He has a first degree and post-graduate qualifications in sports management.